In the early 1970s, the automaker BMW’s brand was symbiotically linked to left-wing terrorism in the company’s native West Germany. BMW/Brand Terror explores how BMW came to be connected to terror.

BMWs became so strongly associated with terrorism that a common joke emerged among Germans: “BMW” didn’t stand for “Bavarian Motor Works” but instead stood for “Baader-Meinhof Wagen” after the notorious Baader-Meinhof Gang that was waging war against the German state.

Police would regularly set up roadblocks and simply pull over just BMWs, certain in their belief that the terrorist group only preferred the sporty cars from the Bavarian automaker. As Der Spiegel magazine noted, BMW owners had a very tough time in the early seventies, because quite simply they were ALL under suspicion.

BMW/Brand Terror was created by baader-meinhof.com creator Richard Huffman for his site’s visitors to enjoy.